Glen Davis‘ right ankle sprain may not be as serious as first thought, the Boston Globe reported. The injury occurred during Monday’s loss against the Warriors when Davis got tangled up with Rony Turiaf and fell to the ground. He reportedly left Oracle Arena on crutches and wearing a protective boot following the game.

“I haven’t heard anything, which means nothing is serious,” Celtics President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge told the Globe. “I sent (trainer) Eddie (Lacerte) a text and I haven’t heard anything and usually that means it’s not much.”

In other injury-related news, Ainge told the Globe Paul Pierce will have his right knee evaluated this week, while no definitive date has been set for his return.

The Boston Herald also reported Kevin Garnett, who was kicked in the right leg against the Warriors, and Rajon Rondo, who tweaked his left hamstring, received attention from Lacerte on Tuesday as well. Both players are expected to play on Wednesday against the Suns in Phoenix.

It’s easy to gain a few extra pounds during the holiday season. Be honest ‘ how many cookies have crossed your path this month?

While some people give themselves a free pass for sneaking in sugary sweets, not everyone can simply vow to hit the gym in January.

Take Glen Davis for example. After slimming down this summer thanks in part to a newfound interest in mixed martial arts, he committed himself to maintaining his weight during the season. The task seems even more daunting this month, though, considering Davis has not played in a game since breaking his right thumb in late October.

So how does Big Baby avoid the big calories of holiday treats?

Davis has hired a personal chef to cook nutritional meals this season. He is not limited to a daily caloric intake and keeps the pounds off by following a dedicated workout routine during his rehab. Davis explained to WEEI.com how he has adapted his diet to stay thin without being on the court. (And yes, he can sneak a cookie, too.)

A Disciplined Diet: ‘I’ll eat an egg white omelet topped with a piece of French toast, carbs, protein [for breakfast]. Then I’ll lift, work out, do a lot of cardio. I have proportional meals so now I cut my lunch into half and then I eat it three hours later. I eat the other half three hours later, and I eat dinner, and I work out.’

Finding New Favorites: ‘[I eat] steak or fish [for dinner]. And roasted vegetables. I’ve been falling in love with roasted sweet potatoes. They’re so good, so good. I could eat them all day, roasted vegetables.’

Recognizing the Enemy: ‘Some times you do [pick at food], but it’s not about picking. It’s about binging, like eating ridiculous amounts of cookies. That’s when you get in trouble.’

You Don’t Have to Sacrifice: ‘I would have to say I really haven’t given up anything. With a chef, they find multiple ways of cooking healthy meals. Like my chef, she cooks these healthy cookies that are unbelievable. It’s like banana chip something. It’s delicious. Everything’s organic in it, she uses no sugar. They taste delicious. But I don’t eat a lot of them. I eat like two of them.’

In September, Davis speculated that he had lost between 20-25 pounds. He currently is listed at 289 pounds.

“Soon, soon, soon,” he called out in the locker room before the Celtics-Bucks game.

Davis broke his right hand before the start of the season and was recently fitted for a new cast. He is focused on strengthening the ligament and will have the cast removed once the bone is healed.

He hasn’t been able to do much with his shooting hand — “It feels weird a little bit. I haven’t used it in a while,” he said — but predicts he could hit three out of five shots with his left hand after using it so much.

As for the rest of his body, he has been staying conditioned by running and avoiding fatty foods during the holidays.

“Everything’s fine man,” he said. “I’m just coming back as soon as possible, soon.”

Tony Allen makes his 2009-10 season debut tonight against the Milwaukee Bucks after missing the first 20 games with a sore right ankle.

“I don’t know,” Doc Rivers said when asked what his expectations are for the defensive backcourt specialist. “Tony hasn’t played in so long. I’m looking for him not to do too much. Defensively is where we need help and need his help.”

Meanwhile, Rivers said Glen Davis is making progress in healing his right thumb, adding that Davis will “probably be on the trip,” referring to the team’s West Coast trip at the end of the month.

Rivers did not speculate as to his availability and whether he would be activated.

BOSTON — Glen Davis will have the hard cast on his right hand removed on Tuesday and receive a soft cast, the next step in his rehab from a fractured right thumb.

“It’s going to be soft so I can be able to move, be able to shoot, and rehab and get some flexibility back in my hand,’ he told WEEI.com on Friday prior to the Celtics-Raptors game. ‘That’s about it. Then after that, it depends on how I feel.’

Davis injured the thumb two days before the Celtics‘ season opener and had surgery to repair it. Since then his mobility has been limited. He has been grabbing putting and squeezing it with his fingers to prevent losing muscle in his fingers. Davis will continue touching one finger to the other to increase his strength.

‘It feels great to get out of this cast,’ he said. ‘Then I can at least work to something else. It’s like I’ve been in this cast for so long I haven’t been able to work on anything. But now it’s like upgrading it and it depends on how I feel.’

Davis anticipates it will be a few weeks before he can begin shooting with his right hand and has not been given a timetable for his return to the court. In the meantime he will continue improving his left-hand skills, something he believes will help his game in the long run. Davis has already seen the benefits as Rasheed Wallace shoots with both hands.

‘Oh most definitely, most definitely, most definitely. Now I know how important my left hand is, you know? I always realized it was important but when you don’t have your right hand, you understand how important your other hand is,’ he said. ‘It’s going to help me a lot, especially on both sides of the floor, using your hands, hand-eye coordination, and things like that.”

He added, ‘It’s just been really weird. Every time I’ve used my left hand it just feels so natural now. Like you know sometimes you use your left hand and it’s like ugh. Now I’ve been using it so much and been working on that, it feels natural.’

Davis has been working out with the team and staying in condition for when he is ready to resume basketball activities. He says he is not worried about finding his way back into the Celtics’ system and believes being mentally prepared will help him ease back into playing with his teammates, many of whom joined the Cs this offseason.

‘You know, I’m not even worried about that. As long as I’m in shape and mentally I’m ready to play, I think I’ll be fine,’ he said. ‘But one thing is it’s different when you’re on the court. Like you know, different conditioning. So when I get a couple of practices in with the coaches, with the team, probably travel with them, get some more conditioning and hopefully be back again soon.’

WALTHAM — The Celtics conducted an open practice session for one of their sponsors Monday, which allowed the media a window into their mostly closed off world. NBA teams have been conducting practices in private for several years now, usually allowing the last 20-30 minutes to be open for viewing for the press.

That tends to mean a whole lot of watching guys take free throws, but with the open session we were able to see how hard they work on defense, and how loud and vocal the practices tend to be. The Celtics worked a lot on halfcourt situations and it had the same intensity as a regular game.

Paul Pierce (bruised left knee) sat out the session. Doc Rivers said that he shouldn’t have let Pierce play on Saturday against Indiana, but that he let Pierce talk him into it. Pierce tried to sneak on to the court Monday, but Rivers shut him down.

“He’s not going to practice today or tomorrow,”Rivers said. “I told him that after the game. He tried to get on the floor at the beginning, I told him no. he doesn’t miss practices. The only way you can get him to miss is to force him.”

Tony Allen did take part in his first practice since training camp, but he’s unlikely to see game action, unless as Rivers said, “We need him.”

After the session there was ample talk about what’s been going wrong the last two games, and it starts with the pick and roll defense.

“Our pick and roll coverage is the main thread,” Rivers said. “It’s been inconsistent. It’s two guys not just the guy on the ball. It’s the guy guarding the ball who sets the pick. And then dribble penetration. Some of our defensive sets have been very good and then with five seconds left on the clock the guy dribbling the ball gets all the way to the basket and that’s not just the guy guarding the ball.”

Rivers also said that he thought fatigue was a factor. He blamed himself for working his team too hard during practice last Thursday before a set of back-to-back games. “I made a mistake on Thursday,” Rivers said. “We went way too hard in practice. I thought it carried over to our back to back on Thursday and Friday. I thought we could get away with it, and I was wrong.” Read the rest of this entry »